The highly anticipated smoothie post is here! That’s a lot of pressure to put on one post. I hope it doesn’t disappoint because, honestly people, these healthy lil’ drinks are way easy.
I know smoothies have been around for a while but I just started making them at home a few months ago. It all started when I was put on bed rest and got bored. I was interested in incorporating more fresh fruit and veggies into my diet but it needed to be easy. I was on bed rest after all.
Being home with Everett all day long made me realize that he could definitely use more fresh produce in his daily diet too. The kid will eat apples, bananas, strawberries and sometimes carrots but that’s it. He’s picky. Layne, on the other hand, will eat nearly any raw fruit or veggie that I put in front of him. They’re brothers but, boy, they are polar opposites.
The search was on for an easy smoothie recipe that didn’t include added sugar in the form of yogurt or juice…because that would defeat the purpose. It didn’t take me long to find rawsmoothierecipes.com. The site is full of raw smoothie recipes that don’t call for an ounce of juice or a teaspoonful of yogurt. It’s just fruit, veggies, water and maybe a tablespoon or two of flaxseed. And each recipe is reviewed by real people so you can get a feel for what it might taste like before deciding to try it. So I set to work following the recipes and making smoothies daily for Everett and me. We both loved them!
Now that I’ve been making raw smoothies for a few months, I’ve stopped following any certain recipe {although I still check out the website for different fruit & veggie combinations} and just mix together whatever I’ve got on hand. I’ve discovered there’s a simple no-fail equation for raw smoothies and that’s what I want to share with you today.
Raise your hand if you hate finding a great recipe only to realize that you don’t have 75% of the ingredients and trying the recipe will require a trip to the grocery store? My hand is waaaaay high in the air here. Picture me stretching my arm and waving it about like an excited schoolgirl who knows the answer to the teacher’s question. I don’t enjoy grocery shopping. Before I leave the house, I pysch myself up and put on my warrior face. A normal trip to the grocery store usually involves one or more of the following:
*kids who want to push their own shopping carts but don’t want to watch where they’re going or follow the grocery list {i.e. my heels take a beating from the line of kiddie carts behind me and we somehow end up with a bunch of stuff that wasn’t on our list – and don’t even get me started on checking out…everyone wants to unload their cart’s items onto the conveyor belt themselves one. thing. at. a. time. Ugh.}
*stopping to try every single food sample and all I can think about are the hoards of germs that are surely covering them
*someone has to go potty when we’re in the dairy section at the back of the store and the restrooms are at the front…after I repeatedly asked if anyone needed to go potty before we started shopping
*backtracking to find an item on my list because the store has been reconfigured to make things ‘easier’
*forgetting something on my list because I’m trying not to lose a kid
*one of my kids pointing at an obese shopper and loudly exclaiming, “Look Mom! That guy’s fat. He must be buying junk!”
*choosing the slowest checkout lane…you know the one with the guy who realizes he left his wallet in the car after all his groceries are rung up and bagged…and all my groceries are on the belt waiting to be rung up next…giving my kids time to notice the gum, candy and other junk for sale in the checkout lane OR another variation of this is the crazy stubborn coupon lady who wants to speak to the store manager because her coupon to save 80¢ on a bag of salad isn’t redeemable for the bag of shredded cabbage she picked up…by god, lady, I will gladly pay you 80¢ to finish checking out so I can get outta here!
*a complete kiddie meltdown because I said no to the checkout lane junk
*my groceries getting bagged into plastic bags even though I gave the cashier my Envirosax bags to use
*a crying, hungry newborn
*looks of disapproval from other shoppers – why, yes, it would have been easier to leave my kids at home BUT my husband is at work/renovating our house that we don’t live in yet so I’m gonna take all these kids and groceries back to our two-bedroom apartment located ON THE THIRD FLOOR of the apartment building which does not have an elevator!!
*44 million trips up and down three flights of stairs to get everyone and everything unloaded
So, yeah, grocery shopping is an eventful experience to say the least.
But, wait, we’re talking about smoothies. Right. Carry on.
Here’s the gist.
Fill a blender two-thirds to three-fourths full of fruit. I slice larger fruit into pieces to fit it into the blender easily. {I always include at least one banana for a thicker concoction and to balance out tart fruit.} Here, I’m using banana, strawberries, frozen blueberries, kiwi and a mix of radicchio and spinach.
Fill the blender the rest of the way with greens. {This can be romaine, spinach, kale, etc.}
Pour three-fourths cup of filtered water over everything. {I use water from our Pur water pitcher. Our apartment’s water is gross so we always have a pitcher full of water in the fridge.}
Add a tablespoon or two of flaxseed. {I use Bob’s Red Mill organic flaxseed meal found in the natural food section of my local grocery store.}
Pulsate then blend for 1 minute. Use a spatula to push down any food stuck to the sides of the blender.
Continue to blend for 2 more minutes.
The result is a bubbly, frothy concoction.
I gulp my down out of a glass.
Everett likes to slurp his with a straw…in his football jersey complete with shoulder pads.
Thumbs up, Mom. He drank two large smoothies yesterday. I’m not lying. He really likes them. And Mabrey?
The sound of the blender puts her into a trance. She is completely chillaxed.
A few notes on raw smoothies:
*I bought a Ninja on sale several months ago after our neighbors recommended it to us. {They also gave me an awesome salsa recipe to make with it that I should share sometime.} It was pricey but it’s so much better than any other blender I’ve ever used. The way it turns solid fruit and leafy vegetables into a frothy liquid is great for smoothies. In the past, I’ve not liked smoothies because of their gritty texture. Clean-up isn’t that bad if I remember to rinse out the blender after each use.
*Blending for a solid 2-3 minutes is essential to putting the ‘smooth’ in your smoothie.
*Frozen fruit works. I like to buy frozen blueberries because they’re cheaper and keep longer.
*One blenderful = 3 large smoothies.
*Once blended, smoothies can be kept in the fridge for up to 12 hours. You can blend them the night before for breakfast in the morning if you want.
*Check your teeth after drinking a raw smoothie. It never fails – I always end up with bits of spinach stuck in between my teeth.
*Smoothies are a great way to use up overripe fruit. Waste not, want not.
*To save money, buy ingredients based on what’s in season or on sale locally. Check out manager specials at your grocery store. Typically, these items are about to expire but you can use ’em up quickly in your smoothies.
*Get creative. I’ve tried mango, grapefruit and pineapple in place of more common fruit. These aren’t exotic fruits by any means but they are a nice alternative to strawberries.
I know I could probably make my smoothies healthier with less fruit and more veggies but I’m happy to do this for now. Btw, have you seen this documentary on juicing? It’s an eye-opener that I’d highly recommend, especially if you’re dealing with a chronic health problem like diabetes, hyperlipidemia {high cholesterol}, insomnia or even migraines. Pretty amazing. {That’s another reason I don’t like being a pharmacist. I feel like our society in general deals with health issues by reaching for pills way too often. Just sayin’.}
That’s my smoothie post, folks. How disappointed are you? I told you it wasn’t anything spectacular. If anything, it was cathartic to vent about my grocery shopping experiences.
Do you smoothie or juice? Any other tips for people who are looking to get more raw produce into their diet? Can you relate to my grocery shopping horror stories?
FYI – I was not compensated in any way to mention the website, products and documentary linked to above. Just sharing good stuff!
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
family life, food, kid-friendly